Rail-joint.



PATET Fete,

CHARLES "E, BALLQU, 0F EOANOKE, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR T0 'BALLO'E SdFETYJPsAIZP JOINT COMPANY, Q1? ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, A, CGB-EORATION 0? V RAIL-JOINT,

mosses,

Specification of Letters- Patent.

hateet s Joly 2s, 191e,

zi ieceson'measu usi as, 1913. Serial so. 755 47 To all whom/it may concern: P v

t Be it known that 1, CHARLES lid. Eamon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railwloints, of whioli the following is specification.

This-invention has reference to improvements in rail joints, and its object is to provide a means whereby the fish plates and rails may be securely joined against acoi dental displacement. i

In accordance with the present invention the fish platesare traversed by a oolt having :1 nut with a greatly elongated shank, so that when the nut is applied to the body of the bolt the shank of thenut vvill'projeet' -throu'gha fish plate and in part or vvhol'ly through the Web or the rail, the latter having a hole through it of greaten diaineter than the part of the shank of the nut traversing it, and, moreover, the body of the nut will then be in spaced relation to the corresponding fish plate. The shankot the nut is tapered at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of then lt and the fish plate where traversed by the-"shank off the out is similarly tapered, so that "when the nut is serewed tight the taper portion of the shank is lodged firmly in the fish plate against any liability of turning, and ience accidental displacement of the nut is avoided and even should it occur, as it sometimes happens in cases of de'reilmentthat the nuts are sheared 0d, the shanks of the nuts still hold firmly and the rails are not displaced.

The invention will be best understood from aconsideration of theffollovvino detailed description, taken in ccinnection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with the further under standing; that While the drawings shows practical form of the inventioh, the letter is not confinedgto any strict ooi foslnity with the showing of the drawings, hut may he changed. and modifies so long asisuoh ehan es and modifications, mark no n'iateriel ep'arture frozxi itheqsaliest-features of the invention. in the drawings:

I tiee e rose section of tired in line with oneo the holts,

the body of,- the latter being shown. ineleva tion. Fig. 2 1s aper'speetive view-of a nut provided with m elongated axial shank;

I Referring to the-drawings, there is shown a rail 1 which may be takenas typical of any ordinary railroad rail, andion opposite sides of the rail are shown fishiplates 2, 3", respectively, and in general these fish-plates may follow the usual practice; I

Both the fish plates and rail ere vtran ersed by passages, as is customary t'o'rholding;

\ bolts, but these passages, as willhereinafter appear, a'resomewhat different from the ordinaryfish plates and rails.

. There is provided a bolthaving' a threaded shank 5. and at one end a head 6 and the shank 1 joining the head may have lateral projections '2' adapted to seat in the fish plate 3 to prevent the bolt body from turning. ()f course, other meansmsy beadopted for preventing the turning of. the bolt, so

that the showing of the drawings may be taken as more orless indicative of any suitable means There is provided a nut 8 which sofaras its. body portion 1S concerned may be similar to nuts as usually employed in 00111180 tion with bolts. Thenut 8, however, difiers from the ordinary "nut in that it is pro-- vided with an axial extension 9 on one side, this extension-including an intermediate isper'portion lOgaihd is. free end 11 of less diameter than the poition 12 connected 'di reotly toione faceted the not 8 The usual threaded bore of the-.mit is continued-:7,"

through the axial extension 9 and terminates extension 11, asm-T at the outer end of the dieated at The fish plate 2 has e tapered passageformed thersthroegh tor the taper portion 10* OI the lltltQXtGIlSlOIl 9, and this extension is long enough to extend in part through it passage 15 .ormed through the web oi'rthe rail 1, this passage 15 being of sufficiently large diameter to accommodate the end 11;

and permit some relative movements of the reils with respect to the fish plates, thus providing for expansion and contraction of the railsueder changing temperatures.

The taper 1O is'hut little removed from parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the nut, so that it is at an extreme acute angle thereto, hetap'er being relatively slight and a:

the portion Cid being relatively long. Now, when the bolt 4i is passedthrough the two fish plates and the nut is applied, the exk tension 9 is serewed along the threaded end 5 of the bolt until the end 11 enters the opening 15 and the taper portion 10 is seated in the taper passage 14: through the fish late 2. On turning the nut to draw the fish plates intotight relation to the rail, the taper portion seats very firmly in the passage 14 leaving the body of the nut 8 somewhat spaced fromthe fish plate 2, while the end 11 extends into the passage and if longjenolugh, through it.

The taper-portion 10 is so acute that it jams very tightly into the taper portion 1a when the fish plates have beendrawn against the rail with the desired force, and hence thenuts do not loosen under ordinary conditions of use.

p The axially elongated nut serves to greatly strengthen the bolt where it is threaded, and consequently where it is weakest, for the nut when screwed up tight may reach nearly to the solid portion of the shank of the bolt instead of being entirely'or mostly exterior to the fish plate.

' It is .the usual practice in rail joints to reverse thelbolts, that is, half of the bolts are passed through the fish plate and rail in one dir'ectidn, and the other half in the other direction, so that should it transpire that a train isderailed and the flanges of the wheels ciit oi'f, the nuts of the bolts of one side, the, nuts-10f the bolts on the other side continua vto hold the rails together. Should the same accident occur with the present invenlion,the bodies of the nuts 8, may be sheared oil, but the shanks or 'eritensions oflthese nuts still hold firmly in the fish platl s'and the joint is as strong as though'no such accident had occurred, while with the ordinary bolts the joint is greatly weakened. Derailment of a train causing the shearing ofi of the nuts of the bolts, even should it occur on both sides of the rail joint, would have no bad effect at all upon the oint, but the latter would be as strong as before. Moreover, the greatly elongated nut due to its axial extension or shank on'one side having a taper portion tightly fitting a taper hole in the fish plate, not only gives great strength and durability, butafiords a protection from weather and other like efiects, and adds greatly to the life of the bolt. Again the tighter the nut is screwed up the more firmly it holds to the threaded portion 5 of the bolt, and the long taper seat in the passage 14 holds the nut from turning. Again, the more weight. placed upon the structure the tighter it becomes.

The only essential change needed in the fish plates and rails is the formation of the taper holes 14 and the enlarging of the holes 15 which are made of greater diameter than those intended simply for the passage of the shank of the bolt,

The arrangement has been described with particulal reference to a rail joint, and is particularly useful in such connection, but

this does not preclude the use of a bolt embodying the present invention in conjunction with other-parts to be held together.

From actual tests upon a railroad under traflic conditions it has been found that on screwing the taper part 10 of the nut into the taper seat in the fish plate the frictional binding becomes sufiiciently great to hold the fish plate and rail in a tight grip, and also hold the nut in'place, so that it will not turn in 'the least except when purposely turned by a. wrench, still the binding of the fish plate and rail is not so tight but that the rail may contract and expand under temperature changes without loosening the boltand nut. Furthermore, this" may be regulated as desired. l/Vhen the taper portion of the nut is screwed into the seat in the fish plates the frictional binding is so much greater in the taper portion than in any other part of the bolt that vibration or movement caused by passing trains and the sinking of the joint under the weight of the'train will be either at the head of the 'bolt orin the thread. When the joint again rises to its natural place after the passage of the train it is not moved in the least and consequently remains tight and in place even though there be sufiicient looseness to allow for expansion and contraction under temperature changes.

The bolts being always tight and on duty, the adjacent ends of the rails are held perfectly even, so that when the wheels of the train pass over them the ends of the rails are not Worn oil or mashed so as to cause a bump, but remain just like any other part of the rail. The result of this is that the life of the-rail is prolonged and there is a material saving in rolling stock and in the,

power necessary to pull the train.

Because the bolts always hold tight placed, aLless number of bolts are necessary to do thei work than is the case with bolts as ordinarily used, and four bolts will perform better service than six bolts of the common When the joint is once properly placed it requires but little attention and does not have to be constantly inspected, and, moreover, practically eliminates wrecks now caused by bad joints and loose nuts.

What is claimed is 1. A rail joint comprising fish plates and bolts, each bolt extending through the fish lates and a rail between them, and a nut or each bolt having a shank portion extending axially from one face 01 the nut and formed with an acute taper part of an axial length to extend through a fish plate, and the fish plate where traversed by the nut havin a conical passage therethrough in size and s ape corresponding to the taper portion ,of the nut to provide a tight fit through- I ing to the conical portion of bolts extending through the fish plates and a rail between them, and a nut for each bolt having a shank portion axially extending from one face of the nut and provided with an elongated acute-taper conical part, and the fish plate where traversed by the nut having a conical passage in size and shape conforming to the taper portion of the nut to provide a tight fit throughout the thickness of the fish plate, the axial extension of the nut being of a length to extend into the web of the intervening rail.

3. A rail joint comprising fish plates adapted to the meeting ends of rails, and

bolts extending through the fish plates and intervening ralls, each bolt bein provided with a not having a shank extending axially Lirom one face and said shank having end portions of different diameters with an mtermediate conical part tapering away from the-body of the nut at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis thereof and the corre sponding fish plate being provided with a conical passage in size and she e conformthe shank of the nut, and that portion of the shank of the nut remote from the body of the nut being of a length to extend into the web of the rail between the fish plates.

4. A rail joint comprising fish plates adapted to the meeting endscf rails, and bolts extending through the fish plates andintervening rails, each bolt being provided with a nut having a shank extending axially from one face and said shank having end portions of different diameters with an intermediate conical part tapering away from the body of the nut at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis thereof and the corresponding fish plate being provided with a conical passage in size and shape conform-,.

ing to the conical portion of the shank of the nut, and that portion of the shank of the nut remote from the body of the nut being of a length to extend into the web of the rail between the fish plates, said rail web having the passage for the end of the nut shank of a diameter to leave a free s ace thereabout.

5. A bolt having a threa ed shank and a nut adapted thereto, said nut being provided with an elongated shank portion ex-' tending axially from one side of the nut and provided with an intermediate part of acutetaper conical form and terminating at the end remote from the nut in a-cylindrical extension of less diameter than the portion of the shank adjacent to the body of the nut. In testimon whereof I'afiix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

CHARLES E. BALLOU.

Witnesses SAMUEL H. Hoes, AsHBY W LLIAMs. 

